Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Lucas Interview
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In the Holiday Inn University Plaza Hotel Invitational finale, No. 23 WKU and Michigan State battled from beginning to end of a five-set clash. The Spartans handed the Lady Toppers just their second loss of the season (9-2) on Saturday while moving to 8-1. As a program, WKU is now 12-13 all-time against opponents out of the Big Ten.
WKU improved to a perfect 11-0 in the opening set of matches on the season with a 29-27 victory in the first frame. The Lady Toppers utilized 13 kills on 37 attacks in the frame while holding Michigan State to 18 kills on 42 attacks. Alyssa Cavanaugh registered five kills in the opening set of play in front of the strong crowd at Diddle Arena.
"The fans were huge," shared junior setter Jessica Lucas. "Even the 1 o'clock match here on Friday was great. I've been here two years now and that's easily the best fan support we've had. I hope it continues because they're helping us out a lot. We need them."
Michigan State claimed set two in a 25-21 fashion to knot the match at 1-1 heading into the long break. The Lady Toppers hit .257 in the set and Cavanaugh added five more kills.
The Spartans clinched the third set as well, taking a 2-1 lead over the Lady Toppers with a 25-19 victory. Sydney Engle added a trio of kills in the set. WKU was held to a .143 hitting clip and just 11 kills in the third frame.
After going down a set, the Lady Toppers responded with a fourth-set victory by a 25-21 margin. Travis Hudson's unit worked to a .303 hitting percentage and 17 kills in the frame. Cavanaugh continued her hot streak firing off eight more kills in the fourth set. The junior owned 20 kills entering the fifth set on the night. Emma Kowalkowski contributed two of her three service aces in the set.
Set five went down to the wire as Michigan State ultimately secured the victory in a 15-11 fashion over WKU in its first five-set contest of 2016. Cavanaugh recorded two more kills to finished one shy of a career-high mark with 22. Engle added a service ace in the frame along with a pair of WKU's six kills.
Jessica Lucas concluded play with 51 assists and 10 digs for a double-double outing. Along with Cavanaugh, three other Lady Toppers registered double-digit kills including Rachel Anderson (10), Engle (10), and Taylor Dellinger (10). The performance also marked Engle's second double double in as many days.
The Lady Toppers finished with seven blocks on the day including two solo stops by Cavanaugh while three players each registered a pair of block assists (Lucas, Anderson, Amara Listenbee).
Leading the dig category for the Lady Toppers was Georgia O'Connell with 14 digs while Engle tallied 12 and Lucas added 10. Kaelin Grimes added seven more digs.
"To have those teams come play here was amazing; it was a great atmosphere and the crowd was amazing," said Lucas of the tournament atmosphere. "It was so fun to play in."
With the Holiday Inn University Plaza Hotel Invitational concluded, the Lady Toppers will have nearly a full week before their next match when the squad travels to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the Pittsburgh Invitational, WKU will take the court against Pittsburgh, Robert Morris and Lehigh on Friday and Saturday.
